National Service Scandal: Gifty Oware-Mensah charged for stealing over GH¢38m

Former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA),Gifty Oware-Mensah, has been arraigned before the High Court in Accra on multiple charges including stealing, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering, and abuse of public office.

According to the Attorney-General’s Department, Oware-Mensah allegedly misappropriated a total of GH¢38,458,248.87 between February 2022 and March 2024 while overseeing finance, audit, and procurement at the NSA.

Prosecutors said she dishonestly transferred GH¢31.5 million from a loan facility meant to support National Service Personnel into the account of her private company, Blocks of Life Consult, under the pretext of supplying goods on a hire-purchase basis.

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Investigations later revealed that no such goods were supplied, and the names used to secure the loan were “ghost names” she had generated from the NSA’s internal system.

The charges include:

– Stealing GH¢31,502,091.40 belonging to the National Service Authority

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– Willfully causing financial loss to the state through the fake hire-purchase arrangement

– Abuse of public office for personal gain

– Money laundering through the transfer of funds into personal and affiliated accounts

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The funds were secured through an agreement with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), with repayments expected to be deducted from the allowances of 9,934 National Service Personnel — all of whom were later discovered to be fictitious.

Part of the misappropriated funds was traced to Amaecom Global Company, where Oware-Mensah was also a director, and other companies linked to her.

Investigations were triggered by the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) following reports of corruption and financial irregularities at the NSA.